Replies

1. 
   notDusty | May 02, 2005 09:19am | #1

                   You could use a " taut line hitch " , It is the one you could tighten tent or awning lines with also .  Ask a  Boy Scout .

                           hope this helps                       dusty

   
   

   ---

   Edited 5/2/2005 2:28 am ET by dusty

2. 
   joinerswork | May 02, 2005 03:39pm | #2

   Donca,

   As dusty says, a taut-line hitch will hold against a pull, as you'd need for a guy line on a tent or awning.  It is better for taking up slack than exerting pressure, however. 

   I believe a better knot for your purpose is the "trucker's hitch".  Tie a  loop in one end of your line. Pass the line around the object to be tied, then run the end of the line thru the loop.  Pull the end of the line back on itself, as tightly as you please, and secure with a half hitch or two..(one half hitch will hold a man, two will hold a horse, and three will hold the devil himself!) If you leave a "bight" (loop) in the half hitch, you will be able to untie it with a pull on the end of the loop, like a shoelace.

   The trucker's hitch is excellent for securing a load, a canoe on a roof rack for instance.  You can tie the loop anywhere convenient along the length of the line, to make a place to pull against when drawing down the load. 

   For more info than you can take in, look for the "Ashley Book of Knots", by Clifford Ashley.  It has thousands of knots, from all over the world, plaits, braids, macrame, nets, lanyards, rigging, you name it.

   Regards,

   Ray

1. 
   DonC | May 02, 2005 05:02pm | #3

   Thanks guys!!! I just bought the book.

   Happy days!

1. 
   KeithNewton | May 03, 2005 04:59am | #4

   Don, Once you learn to do a truckers hitch, you can take it a step further by learning to cascade them. This is a term for compounding parts of tackle by going back to to the lead end of one which is doubling the purchase, and doubling it which gives 4 times, then if you can double that and have 8 times, or lead back to the previous lead, and throw a hitch into it and get 16 etc.

1. 
   EdHarrow | May 03, 2005 06:54am | #5

   But you'll sure be wishing you made the loops with slip knots, LOL.  Trucker's hitch is mighty handy - esp when tying stuff on your car or trailer.  I'm always amazed at what I see driving down the road - stuff held on the top of a car with not much more than a whim and a prayer - mattresses straining for lift-off ;-)

   The rolling hitch is also handy (aka tension or whatever it was, knot).  Bowline, and it's cousin the sheet bend are others that should be in your arsenal, why knot!

2. 
   delliottg | May 03, 2005 09:38am | #6

   Don,
   The knot you're looking for is in the "tricks" section of the Ashley book, I can't remember what he calls it off hand (if you can't find it let me know, I'll dig out my book). He describes how to foil a "Houdini" who asks you to tie his wrists together so he can escape. By tying this particular knot, they'll never be able to escape, it cinches up on itself the harder you work against it. I use it constantly for all kinds of things, like repairing chair legs, knotting together a bundle, whatever. The nice thing about it is that you can tie it in the bight of the rope, you don't need the ends in order to tie it. It's a good idea to assume that you won't be able to untie it, you'll probably have to cut it off.For those of you who don't have the book and are interested in the knot, it's fairly easy to tie over a dowel or whatever, here's the process:
   Starting from the left hand side of the dowel, loosely wrap the line up over the top angling towards the right, then continue back under the dowel keeping the end of the line to the right of the beginning and wrap loosely over the top bringing the line back around now to the left of where you started, then tuck the end of the line through the "X" where the lines crossed, and you're done. The last tuck should not have any line underneath it, it should be bottom-most. You can slide it off of the dowel & expand or contract it quite easily to fit the size you need. Once you have it sized and over the item you want, simply pull the two ends & it will cinch down. The harder you pull, the tighter it'll get & it won't slip (nor will it untie, unless you've purposely left it a bit loose). Once you figure out how to tie it, it's quite easy to just quickly tie it around your fingers & size it as necessary. I can post a JPG of how it looks if that'd be helpful.David

   Edited 5/3/2005 2:40 am ET by delliottg

1. 
   Miami | May 03, 2005 04:24pm | #7

   I'd like to see the .jpg, thanks ...

   Knots are one of those things that are SO hard for me to 'get' with words alone.

   Thanks,

   Clay

1. 
   Len | May 03, 2005 05:59pm | #8

   Clay,

   Here's a great book of knots. I got it for my dad at Christmas. He loved it.

   http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=10014&cat=1,46096,46117

   Enjoy.Hi, I'm Len and I'm a Toolaholic...

2. 
   delliottg | May 03, 2005 09:07pm | #9

   Clay,

   I knew I was going to have to make a JPG, I was just too lazy to do it last night at midnight.  I found the book, but my scanner isn't cooperating this morning, so I just went & took a picture of one of the knots.  Hopefully the picture's worth the proverbial thousand words.

   Ashley calls the knot a "constrictor knot" and it can be found on  page 225 of "The Ashley Book of Knots" as knot #1249.  The book is a fabulous compendium of knots, how to use & tie them, as well as their history.  It's a bit overwhelming, but I've had it for 25 years & still refer to it on a regular basis (I'm also a sailor).

   If the .JPG isn't clear, let me know, I can monkey with my scanner to get it working and copy the page out of the book, it's just a PITA.

   In case anyone's interested, the mallet is Osage Orange, a bit too big to be truly useful (my first turned mallet), but a very good persuader.

   David

   
3. 
   AndyE | May 04, 2005 01:12am | #11

   The knot in your pic is known as a clove hitch in my world (theatre). Great for tying on to just about anything and when topped with a half hitch it won't pull out like it may have a tendency to do without it. If you add a double loop on one side you have a rolling hitch which is used when lifting pipe or lumber up "on end". Does that make sense? The extra loop adds friction to keep lifted object from slipping through.Andy"It seemed like a good idea at the time"

4. 
   tms | May 04, 2005 01:32am | #12

   Hey Andy,Take closer look at the picture. The constrictor is similar to a clove hitch, but has an embedded over hand knot that makes it a real bear to unhitch. Most folks end up using a pocket knife.Tom

5. 
   AndyE | May 05, 2005 12:13am | #19

   I sit corrected. I think the sun was in my eyes. Missed that little twist. How 'bout that, I learned something new today. Don't mind me, I'll just stick to tying up traffic.don't know a knot, tie alotthanksAndy"It seemed like a good idea at the time"

   Edited 5/4/2005 5:15 pm ET by AndyE

6. 
   Patto | May 04, 2005 06:00am | #14

   Old jungle saying:

   Those who can, tie knots; those who can't, tie lots.

7. 
   EdHarrow | May 04, 2005 05:56pm | #18

   Knot fun.  ;-)

   "Those who can, tie knots; those who can't, tie lots."  ROTFLMHO - never heard that, but a good one.

3. 
   GoldenWreckedAngle | May 03, 2005 10:59pm | #10

   Here is a link to several hitch knots that would probably work well as band clamps:

   http://www.realknots.com/knots/hitches.htm#wurgknoop

   I found that link looking for basic noose tying instructions. I learned to tie a noose for grins and giggles way back when and discovered one day that a noose makes an excellent band clamp.

   Looking at the strangle knot (Double Marline Hitch) on that link has me thinking it would work just as well with less effort. It looks like a constrictor hitch on steroids.

    

    

   If we fail to catch a cosmic fish it may be a trillion years before the opportunity comes again

1. 
   nikkiwood | May 04, 2005 07:16am | #15

   GWA --re: http://www.realknots.com/knots/hitches.htm#wurgknoopSo which one of these knots would also be called the "trucker's hitch" (referred to above)?"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
   -- Bertrand Russell

1. 
   delliottg | May 04, 2005 09:28am | #16

   An example of a trucker's hitch can be found here: http://www.isu.edu/outdoor/knots.htm

   I generally just use a doubled figure eight tied in the bight instead of the truckers hitch. It's very easy to tie, and relatively easy to untie even after you've severely loaded it. Tie the figure eight above the tie down point, run the end of the line through the tie down & back up to the loop in the figure eight, and then you can pull downwards on the end with your body weight to tighten the line. By doing this, you've created a single fall pulley system which lets you double the tension you'd be able to generate by just pulling on the line. My brother & I used a couple of these to tie down a jacuzzi in the bed of my truck this past weekend. We're both pretty big boys, so we're able to generate a fair amount of downward force. However if you're not so big, you can cascade the knots so that you can quadruple or octuple your tension. Do this by running the end of the rope through another series of figure eight & tie down (you can use the same one). However, it's diminishing returns as friction quickly become a large factor, and you'd be better off with some sort of commercial tensioning system, or using carabiners for your loops to reduce friction.

   David

1. 
   joinerswork | May 04, 2005 03:29pm | #17

   delliottg,

   The pioneering merit badge book, tells how to use this rope "block and tackle". You can use this setup to easily move really heavy objects ( a truck, for instance). Lots of fun for the boys to try, and useful knowledge to boot.

   Regards,

   Ray

4. 
   Steinmetz | May 04, 2005 02:49am | #13

   Don, try this link